You ever notice how when you’re around an intrusive noise–the washing machine out of balance and thumping, your neighbor using a chainsaw next door, the kid in the airplane in front of you screaming nonstop because his ears hurt–that when it stops, the silence is loud?

Monday was the first day in months that I had time and space to write but didn’t.

Boy, was it a lazy day. I kept wondering why I had so much time to get things done.

“So,” you ask, “after all the shit you’ve given us about writing every day, what are you doing not writing?”

Well, I have an excuse. It’s part of “the process.”

On Friday, I finished the first draft of Sir Kay. Now it has to sit for at least a week before I pick it up again. Get a little distance. Then I will read it critically with a…